Celebrating our 40th Anniversary

A history of standards

Over the past forty years, we have seen remarkable innovations take root through the hard effort of industry collaboration. With new technologies, new applications, and new industries, the impact of GS1 Standards is ever-evolving, driven by ongoing engagement with industry leaders working together to create better ways of doing business. It’s inspiring to look back over the past forty years, and particularly the last ten years, and see how far we’ve come.

1973

Industry leaders unite

3 April: Industry leaders in the United States select a single standard for product identification—the Universal Product Code symbol—over seven other options. Still in use today, the U.P.C. was the first GS1 barcode.

1974

The first live scan

The Uniform Code Council (UCC) is established in the U.S. as a not-for-profit standards organization (GS1 US).

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26 June: A pack of Wrigley’s gum becomes the first product to be scanned with a GS1 barcode in a Marsh supermarket in Ohio, United States.

1976

The 13th digit

Based on the original GS1 barcode, a 13th digit is engineered, allowing the identification system to go global.

1977

Global organisation

The European Article Numbering (EAN) Association is established as an international not-for-profit standards organization (GS1). With a head office in Brussels, Belgium, the EAN Association has 12 founding Member Organisations from European countries. Together, they launch the GS1 identification system to improve supply chain efficiency in the retail sector.

1989

GS1 takes the first step into eBusiness with the original version of the EANCOM Manual, an international standard for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).

1990

GS1 goes global

The UCC (GS1 US) and EAN International (GS1) sign a cooperative agreement formalising their intent to co-manage global standards. With this agreement, GS1 has presence in 45 countries.

1995

GS1 in healthcare

GS1 expands the use of GS1 Standards in the healthcare sector with the first Healthcare Collaboration Project.

1996

International cooperation

SC31, the International Organization for Standardization’s committee for automatic identification and data capture standards, is launched, signifying international cooperation around the development and use of new standards.

1999

Innovation

The Auto-ID Centre at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is launched, leading to the development of the Electronic Product Code (EPC).